Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced settlements with Par Hawaii Refining, LLC, over Clean Air Act (CAA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) violations at two of its oil refining facilities on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The settlements are a part of the EPA’s National Compliance Initiative to reduce accidental releases at industrial and chemical facilities.
According to the EPA’s press release, Par Hawaii will implement changes to reduce the risk of chemical accidents at the Malakole Street facility and conduct sampling at the Komohana Street facility to look at whether improper management of hazardous wastes contaminated nearby soils. The company, which operates the state’s only oil refinery, will also pay a combined $219,638 civil penalty.
Par Hawaii reportedly broke CAA regulations at the Malakole Street facility when in 2019 EPA inspectors found violations of the law’s chemical accident prevention requirements. These reportedly included process safety errors, like incorrect maximum inventories for some crude unit vessels and inaccurate piping and machine diagrams. The agency’s inspectors also found operating procedures that were unclear and out of date, including an old emergency shutdown operating procedure in the control room.
A September 2018 EPA inspection revealed that Par Hawaii’s Komohana Street facility had been improperly managing hazardous waste from its refinery. Agency inspectors documented an oily residue being released onto an unlined asphalt pad and into nearby soil. The settlement purportedly requires Par Hawaii to create and implement a sampling plan to “determine the possibility of localized hazardous waste contamination on-site.”
EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Director of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Amy Miller commented, “[w]e are acting to ensure that oil refining facilities reduce the risk of releases of toxic substances, and properly store, manage and dispose of hazardous wastes to protect local communities and the environment. Companies that do not comply with federal requirements will face significant fines.”
